Dogs of Ishbal
by Arden Anam
Summary: A military officer in the northwest town of Kloviss has information that could be of help to the Elric brother. However, Ed gets sick and they must take refuge in Luke & Lucielle's clinic. But what do the twins seem to be hiding from everyone? T just bcuz
1. Chapter one: Is where Lucielle meets Al

Ohkay!! First ever Fullmetal Alchemist fic! Woo! So, who'd like to do the honors?

**Lucielle:** I'm narrating this chappie. I will! :3

**Lucielle:** ArdenAnam doesn't own Fullmetal alchemist or any of it's characters or content. However, the town of Kloviss, me, and Luke belong to her. Another character's coming up, but she belongs to ArdenAnam's bestest best buddy.

Soooooo…. ON WITH THE FIC!!

My name is Lucielle. No last name. I'm 14, blonde with light green eyes, and pretty average for my age (in most ways). But I'll bore you with the facts later. First, I'll tell you just what happened on that night at the edge of town…

It's nighttime.

I bet you're wondering just exactly why I'm wandering the streets of Kloviss (that's my town) at night, huh? It's cold and a little lonely walking down that last street that will get me to my destination. At least the street lamps give plenty of light. You can see Kloviss from the forest, even! I rub my jacketed arms a bit & pull my bandanna tighter before letting my hair drop from its usual ponytail. I'm going to need all the warmth I can get.

Oh! Hey! Didn't answer the question, now did I? Well, it's cuzza my job. I work at a clinic to make ends meet, and since we can't always afford fancy-smancy brand medicines (I don't know how Luke seems to sometimes get them anyway, sometimes…), we grow some. And they actually work pretty well, especially for weak people who can't handle the strong stuff. 'Cept there's only one problem….

Since we live in a city-like town, there're no backyards or anything in the business district. It's all buildings & roads. It's business on the bottom floor, and on the side of the building in the alleyways are stairways that go up to the second floor, where the homes are. Usually two-bedrooms or so. And a third floor usually. (although there are some buildings without a third floor for some of the poorer people)

Because of this, most gardens (if anyone actually bothers to keep one) are out by the crop fields. Which I have finally gotten to. If you stand in the middle of the dirt road, and look out to the road that goes on and on and on…. Before disappearing into the forest in the horizon. So many memories from that forest….

Ah! I need to get the herbs so I can go back home! Don't want Luke to worry about me!

The garden is about ten yards from the very last building on this side of town. Stepping out from the lights of the town, it's immediately immensely colder and darker & alone-er….

Don't think of that! Get her herbs, and leave!!...

… is just what I'm thinking when the strangest sound breaks my thoughts.

_Clankclankclankclankclankclankclankclankclankclankclankclankclankclankclankclank_

I stand up slowly and look out at the road. My instincts are saying 'hide and watch from the shadows to ensure safety'. So I'm about to dive down into the tall grasses of the fields and use the cover of darkness when

"Hey! You there!! Help us! Please!!"

So much for that plan.

Ok. Next. These people seem to need help. However, I'm a young girl and they might try to trick me and kidnap me with these words. But he doesn't sound very old… maybe my age…? But what is that clanking noise? Automail running? I step back towards the town, ready to run at a moment's notice. I still can't see them.

"Yes? What's wrong?" Don't seem too into it. It could be a trap. And then I can make out the basic shape of whoever it is. Very, very big.

"My brother!! He needs help!" the whoever-it-is said, running closer. Now I can see him more clearly. He IS big! And shiny too. Automail? No, no. Too much shiny, although it's not really all that shiny. Heh. Shiny. That's a funny word and—no! Stay on track!!

It's armor. That's what the clanking was. He's about five yards away, and getting closer. But where's that brother of his? Out in the woods? I'll have to get Luke for that. I can't go in there alone with a stranger. But then I see the red coat in his arms, and the face of someone in pain…

All of a sudden, my instincts take over again. GET THAT KID TO SAFETY. (maternal instincts I guess)

"Oh, shiz!! Oh, man oh man oh man, what happened??" I ask, running over to the Mr. Armor-man. "I don't know! We're heading for town and all of a sudden he collapses!! He tried to get up again, but he just fell over again! I think he's really hurt!" the armor replies.

I look back to the kid. "Hey, can you hear me? Can you tell me what's hurting?" No response. I turn back up to the armor's face when what sounds more like a mumble comes from the boy. " _m'stomach_………" Ohkay. That helps with the situation a lot.

I turn back up to the armor. "Did you two pass through a town where he could have gotten sick? Did he display symptoms before he collapsed?" He didn't know of the first question, but mentioned that his brother had been less talkative than usual and didn't seem to want to walk much, but did anyway. Aaaahhh…… the reckless type. Just like _my_ brother….

"Did you two get in a fight?" A small pause. "Uhm… well… maybe. He gets into fights a lot. But he wins just about all of them, so I doubt that." I shake my head. "Just because he wins them," I say, "doesn't mean that he didn't get hurt during the fight. Trust me, I have a younger brother too. He's crazy."

The armor looked down at his brother, then back to me, with a pleading look in his eyes. I don't get it. "Wait, he's the older brother? But you're HUGE and he's so much smaller than you!"

Then, all hell broke loose.

"WHO'REYOUCALLINGTOOSHORTTOWININAFIGHTAGAINSTANAMEOBAHUH? I'LLPOUNDYOUINTOPASTE!!" The kid screamed at me, sitting straight up in his brother's arms and jumping out to face me. He was in a freakin' fighting stance!!

Right after the breaking loose of hell, however, the kid doubled over and fell down again. "Owowowowowoowwwwwdammitdammitdammit…."

"Big Brother! Oh, man, you really shouldn't have done that! Are you o—"

Then, the second weirdest noise of the day (night). I looked at the boy being helped up by his armor-clad younger brother.

"…………..Exactly when did you last eat?"

Wooo! First chapter! Two & a half pages on Microsoft Words! Woo! ………… I promise they'll get bigger. Don't ask me why I stopped there. Just did.

Ohkay, I'm going to see if I can get this fic done before Halloween, because it's actually a prologue to another story. But I probably won't. Whatev.

Soo…. REVIEWS ARE LUV! PLZ REVIEW!! No, seriously. Please, take the time to make my day a little happier, please.

**Lucielle**: that Ed kid is weird.

**Ed:** HEY!!

**Al:** Be nice.

**Luke:** wooo! I'm a mysterious character shrouded in shadows!!

**Lucielle:** you're coming in next chapter.

**Luke:** darn. Oh, wait, I mean, YES!!

Ohkay, ppl. If you want a pic of any of my characters, I'll gladly supply it! If you want a comic…. I'll gladly think about it and more often that not will try and make it! And more often than not will fail at it! But ask anyway! :3

LP


	2. Chapter two: Has a misinterpretation

wow... i this chapter is considerably shorter than the last chapter...

Luke! Your turn to do the honors!

**Luke**:…… what Lucielle said last chapter.

**Lucielle**: you're no fun -.-;;;;

--

My name is Luke. No last name. I'm 13 years old, almost 14. I'm Ishballan, too, although my hair is some crazy color we think might just be purple, even. With dark purple around the bottom of my hair. I like my hair color. I'M NOT CHANGING IT.

I'm more Ishballan than my sister, seeing as I have the traditional Ishballan looks (red eyes, dark skin, etc.) while Lucielle takes after dad, an Amestiran. And we're twins. Don't ask how, but she's older than me. A fact that annoys me to no end. She should be the younger sister! She's too damn trusting! Brings strangers to the clinic all the time and trusts them immediately! We're too popular here. It's annoying. I think one time she brought a criminal who got a dog bite breaking into someone's house! He didn't steal anything, but you get the point!

And she did it again tonight. Brought home some stranger. Except this stranger wasn't a stranger. He was someone I had thought I'd never see again.

Someone who was from that time two years ago...

--

Lucielle left fifteen minutes ago to get those plants. Wait, why did she go? I usually go. Huh. She's taking too long….

So I'm stuck here, manning the clinic until she gets back. I really wish I could just close up already. We should be able to trust to people to behave themselves, you know? Not kill themselves? Besides, they can just ring that contraption thingy I made that hit's the window just above Lucielle's bed. Can't make one for my room. It's in the back of the house.

I'm just about done fixing up the examination room. Some kids had messed with an angry dog. The bite on the little boy's leg hadn't been too deep, but there had been a lot of blood. But Lucielle had used that Xingese alchemy that she knew to fix up his leg a bit after dabbing it with that medicine we make ourselves. We just call it "Special stuff". It's a very good for cleaning up wounds and helping it heal & stuff.

There. Absolutely no trace of any blood or anything at all on or around the examination table. Lucielle is really serious when it comes to medical stuffs. I can see why, though. Huh.

I walk out of the examination room and into the main room of the clinic. Same old desk just sitting there in the middle of the room. Same three doors behind it. Same pharmacy room right across from where I'm currently standing. Same random chairs, same random magazines we got for no reason at all, and same bathrooms, too. The clinic wasn't really that much compared to those things in the city, but we can make do with what we have. We're saving up for an X-ray, though. Although it might be a while seeing as we don't have much money right now….. maybe I could go out and pick a fight… nah. Lucielle won't accept payment if it's my fault. Heh.

OOOhhhhhhhhkaaaaaaaayyyyyyy………….. wow. It's really getting boring now. I really wish I could go upstairs to my room and grab a book or something… or maybe get something from the kitchen upstairs too. But noooo-ooooo. No-can-do. Must have someone manning the clinic at all times when Lucielle isn't around. Nyeh…

Where the hell is Lucielle?! She's really been gone for a while! Knowing her, she'd just run out to the garden, get the stupid plants, and run right back. Ok, I don't care if she gets mad at me or not. I'm going to see if she's all right.

My jacket's sitting on one of those random mis-matching chairs. I grabbed it and went to push open the doors to go find that sister of mine…

…When the doors pull open to reveal Lucielle.

"Yeesh! What took you!? I wa—" but I'm cut off by the look on her face. "Hey, what's up? Nothing happened, right?" I know I'm wrong, though. It's that 'someone's-hurt-and-it's-my-civic-duty-to-help-them' look. Hoooooooooo boy.

I pulled the door open and stood behind them, as to let Lucielle gain her arms back to help the person in. Except she didn't. She went to open the other door. All I could think was "_what?_".

And then I saw the armor. The all-too-familiar armor.

And screamed.

--

Ohkay!! I wasn't going to make it a cliffie here, but why not? Wahaha!! Im so evil!!... and by making a cliffie I make the chappie preeeettttyyyy short….. is it short? shrugs

Me:Ed, you can't say that I just insulted you. You weren't mentioned at all in this chappie.

Ed: why did you think I'd be insulted? Huh? HUH??

Al: …….. what did I do?

Me: s'ok, aru. U didn't do anything. However, apparently someone who looks a helluva lot like you did.

Al: …?

Ed: get on with the story!!

Ohkay, pplz. I've decided that for every new character I introduce, I make a picture of them. I have one of Lucielle on deviantart. I'm Fuzzlespup, kay? fuzzlespup./

…. I really think I did a crappy job on that pic…. She's not really that pale…. Nor is her hair that light ;;;

Be expecting a Luke pic soon! :3

-LP


	3. Chapter three: has a fight over what?

Oh! Hey! I totally forgot!!

Thanks to Ria442, nao.xx, Raven Aspen, and annoyedbyyou for reviewing! :3

…. Wow. I just looked at the reader traffic & I have ppl from Australia, Finland, new Zealand, Canada, Sweden and Italy who read my stories, along with ppl from the US. Wow. ;;;

**Luke**: WAAAAAAHH?? YOU MADE MY CHAPTER SO SHORT!!

**Me**: sorries!! Didn't mean to!! But I wanted to make it a cliffie!!

**Lucielle**: don't worry, next chapter you get, it won't be so short I bet :3

**Luke**: yeah…. But it's Al's turn to narrate, not mine!

**Alphonse:** oh, hey, doesn't that mean I get to do the honors?

**Me:** yups! (honors disclaimer)

**Alphonse:** Kay!

**Alphonse**: ArdenAnam doesn't own Fullmetal Alchemist characters or scenarios or places. However, she does own Luke & Lucielle, and the town of Kloviss.

**Me**: :3

**Edward**: I didn't get to say anything…..

My name is Alphonse Elric, and today, Ed managed to get his food stolen by some animals in the forest (it wasn't their fault), then collapse from hunger, and then I got my head knocked off by this Ishballan kid who didn't seem to take too kindly to armor…

No, really. He screamed and knocked my head off with a stick.

Hooo boy.

The girl who's name I now know is Lucielle brought us to a building on the edge of town that seemed bigger than the rest of the buildings. Most of the others were square-ish, and had signs such as Pet Supplies, Food, and Bar, and those things. I even saw one that sold Xingese food, I think. But the place Lucielle seemed to work at was about the width of a normal-store-and-a-half, and had the sign Clinic above the doors.

"I'll go upstairs and get some food, and then open the doors for you, okay?" Lucielle said, knocking me out of my thoughts. I nodded, and looked back to my brother. "How are you feeling?"

"Just get me some damn food."

I guess he's feeling a _little_ better.

Lucielle ran up the stairs on the side of the house, three flights compared to the two of a normal house-business, and disappeared into the door. I waited no more than three minutes when she came back down with some bread, cheese, and an apple. Then she stopped before the went got down the first flight of stairs.

"Oh, hey, your brother's not allergic to anything, right? Not lactose-intolerant?"

"Lactose-intolerant? What's that?" I asked. I think I had heard it somewhere before…

"It mean he can't have anything with dairy products, like cheese" she answered, holding up said food item. I thought for a minute… "Nah. He hates milk, but cheese is ok." She gave me a strange look for about half a second before bounding down the stairs again.

Then she opened the doors and I heard a voice from inside. This might be the Luke she had been talking about. I didn't know her relationship with him, or his age, from what she said, but apparently he was about our age, and concerned about her.

"Yeesh! What took you!? I was--…. "Hey, what's up? Nothing happened, right?"

She was about to reply when I walked in with Brother, looking for a place to set him down. And then….

All hell broke loose.

Everything happened at once. First, I heard a horrible scream and turned to look to whoever made it, seeing it was a young boy with tanned skin. Luke, I guessed. But I didn't have time to really look at him, as he let go of the door, letting it slam on my armor. I almost dropped Brother! I hoped nobody noticed the hallow sound, but apparently Luke did. His eyes grew wider, and he grabbed something leaning on the wall behind the door and knocked my head off.

Yeah, he knocked off my head.

All during this, Lucielle was trying to control her friend. Hysteric shouts of "What's going on!? Luke, why are you screaming!?" all of a sudden stopped and were replaced with a sort of screamed gasp of her own, seeing the emptiness inside my armor. She didn't seem to know what to make of it, while Luke apparently did.

He grabbed her arm and dragged her behind the desk in the middle of the room and yelled, "I KNEW IT!! IT'S ONE OF THEM!!" I had no idea who 'they' are, but then I saw the boy's eyes. He was an Ishballan.

"What the hell?? What's going on!?" Brother yelled, hopping out of my arms once again at the noise. Apparently he had forgotten just how hungry he was…

….for all of three seconds.

Falling over again, he looked to the couch next to the closed door where Lucielle had dropped the bread and cheese. The apple was still in her hands, getting bruises from where she was squeezing it so hard. He grabbed the food, and started wolfing it down quickly so he could get into the fight.

I picked up my head and snapped it back on, then looked at Lucielle to explain that, no, I wasn't cursed armor or anything of the sort. Luke was whispering to her, and I saw her eyes widen. What was he saying? Did he know what I was? But then, he turned back to me.

"You've come to take us back, haven't you?" he growled, with Lucielle a little bit behind him. She seemed to be the older of the two, but Luke was the one with the fighting spirit it seemed.

"Take you back? What the hell are you talking about? AND WHY DID YOU KNOCK OFF MY BROTHER'S HEAD, ANYWAY??" Edward yelled after finishing the food.

"To see if it was true, which it is" Luke answered, the same growl in his voice. "And I'm telling you right now, we are NOT going back there. We made new lives, and we're going to live them. And if you're going to go back to those people and tell them we're here…"

He stepped around the desk and glared at Brother, who in turn glared back. "Well, what will you do? You never finished your sentence." He dared. Luke's glare turned darker.

"_Then I won't let you leave!!_"

Luke dashed over to Brother, and I heard Lucielle yell "What!? What are you saying, Luke!?" before the boy ran and jumped up to kick Brother in the head. Or wherever his foot would land. At first, I was afraid that since he had collapsed moments before, his fighting abilities would be severely diminished. I saw I was wrong, however, when I saw Brother grab Luke's foot and knock him back off, a trick I knew wasn't taught by Teacher, but was a very popular move back in Risenbool when he was fighting with Pitt.

"Stop fighting!!" I heard Lucielle yell, which were my exact thoughts. Watching Luke's fighting tactics, I knew it was only a matter of time for Brother to overpower him & knock him out, which was what Luke seemed to be trying to do. He didn't seem like a killer, anyway. Well, at least Brother hadn't pulled out the old automail-sword trick. I'm guessing he saw that Luke's moves weren't that good, too.

"Ohkay, that's enough. Really." I said, stepping into the fight as Luke managed to land a kick on Brother's leg and nearly knocked him over. But would Brother listen? Noooo-ooooo….. He got down and kicked Luke's feet from under him, knocking the boy to the floor.

"Oh crap Luke!! Are you ok!?" Lucielle called, also getting a bit closer. Luke jumped up almost immediately, however, and tried to punch Brother. That kid just doesn't give up, does he? Brother retaliated with a punch to the side of his head which apparently hit Luke pretty hard, seeing as he fell down, holding his head…

…. Which was answered with Lucielle whacking Ed on the back of _his_ head with the stick that whacked my head off.

"Don't you DARE hurt my brother!!"

_Brother? Huh?_ I thought as I watched _my _brother fall down. Out cold.

Hooooooooo boy.

Is this long? Plz tell me it is. And another cliffie….. I'm so evil ;;;

Wow! I'm updating so much! :DDD I really like this fic, I guess.

**Ed:** _OW._

**Lucielle:** s'whatcha get. –hmph-

**Ed: **Not my fault!! It was Luke who attacked me!

**Alphonse:** Wow. Brother wasn't the one who started the fight. Is this a sign of the Armageddon?

**Lucielle**: nah. Luke gets in fights a lot too. ;;

**Ed**: ON WITH THE STORY ALREADY!!

LP


	4. Chapter four: Lacks money

Hey, was that last chapter any long? Huh? Huh? Weeellll?? It was good, right?

Edward: MY TURN TO ACTUALLY SAY SOMETHING!

Me: Fine, fine.

Edward: Ohkay! Disclaimer! Arden Anam—

Luke: Arden Anam doesn't own anything of Fullmetal Alchemist …

Lucielle: …including characters…

Alphonse: … and scenarios.

Edward:(!!)BUTLUCIELLELUKE&THETOWNOFKOVISSBELONGTO

ARDENANAM! Ha! Beat you!!

Me: ……. You guys are mean, you know that?

Luke: all in a day's work!

Lucielle: his idea points to Luke

Alphonse: shrugs

My name is Edward Elric. And—OW!! WHAT THE HELL?? Why does my head hurt?!

It's cold. How come it's so cold? Where am I, anyway? It's not very bright in here…

Oh, yeah. My eyes are closed.

"Brother! You're awake!" yelled a familiar voice. I already knew it was Al before I turned to look at him. He was getting up from the floor, where apparently he had been sitting the night before, waiting for me to wake up.

"Yeah, I'm awake. Why're you so excited about that?" I wondered aloud. Al thought for a minute." Brother, what do you remember about last night?"

"Last night? My head's hurting so much I can hardly think… waitaminute… Was there an Ishballan kid & another girl?" Al nodded. "And did I get in a fight with the Ishballan?" Another nod. "And did he hit me from behind somehow?" Lack of nodding.

That's strange. "Huh? Then who did?" I asked. There were only four people in the room at the time, if my memory serves me right: me, Al, Luke, & that Lucielle girl. Was there someone else?

"Lucielle did." Al said, suprising me. I shrugged, trying not to show my surprise. "Oh, hey Al. When's breakfast, anyway? I'm starving!" I mentioned, but then my half-asleep mind figured that after what happened last night, and their apparent mistrust of Al, they're probably not going to feed me. Then all of a sudden I was angry. Really angry. How dare they not trust Al!? He's the kindest kid on the planet! What did he do to deserve their mistrust!

However, I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Al handing me a tray with food on it. "Pretty nice of her, right? Although, I think she might be a bit mad at you still…"

Not really paying attention to that last comment, I looked over the food. I'm hungry!! There's an apple, some pancakes (or waffles. Whatever.) and…..

……………

"I'm not drinking that."

(A/N: can you guess what Lucielle did?)

The liquid that shouldn't even be classified as even _partially_ edible remained on the table behind Al. While I was eating, Al had been telling me just what happened after I had been knocked out, and how I got into this clinic room instead of being thrown out into the streets.

Apparently, after Lucielle's fit of rage, she had been horrified at what she had done. Luke was already out like a light after trying to get up and hitting his head on a wall, so he really didn't have a say in the matter (although she was torn between who to treat first, she ended up insisting that Al bring Luke to a room first, although I got the first medical attention so that she could make sure she didn't do anything too horrible). After both of us had been treated & she was sure neither of us was in any danger, she had Al bring Luke up to his room in the house above the clinic and sat with him in the lobby of the clinic. Then the interrogation begun.

When Al told me that she thought they were from an Ishballan camp, come to take them back, I figured that Luke was a refugee and Lucielle was taking care of him, when the thought came into my mind.

"Hey, Al. Where're Lucielle's parents, anyway?" I asked, interrupting Al's explanation. He thought for a minute before answering. "She didn't say much, but I think their parents died in the Ishballan war." He said, confusing me a bit. "Wait, _their_ parents? What, was one of them adopted?" I asked, trying to make sense of this. "No, they're twins."

……"_Twins??_"

Al nodded. "Uh-huh. Fraternal twins. Lucielle's father was Amesterian, and their mom was an Ishballan. I think she mentioned something about their father dieing when they were very young. And they couldn't find their mother after their town was bombed. After that, they were sent to an Ishballan camp. She didn't seem to want to talk about it, though, so I let it slide."

I tried to get the whole bombing thing out of my mind before asking another question."Waitaminute, she told you all this? I thought she didn't trust us." I mentioned, amazed at this girl. Either she was really really smart, or really really reckless & stupid. "No, I told her about the human transmutation." Al answered, earning him a complete "WTF??" look from me. "What else could I do?" He was nervous to how I'd react apparently. "She's scary when she's angry! And what else could I tell her? Besides, I don't think she's going to snitch. The two don't seem to like the military very much. Don't trust them a bit."

"I'm guessing she doesn't know about my title then?" I mentioned. "Another no. I really didn't think that would help any. And I didn't tell her why we were in town, either." Al replied. He glanced at the door, and I followed his gaze. "Hey, shouldn't we be leaving sometime soon?" I asked. Why were we still here anyway?

"Weeelllll….. we're kinda locked in this room."

"Yousaywhatnow?" I asked. I heard what he said, but couldn't really believe it… Well, actually I could. It sort of made sense after what happened. "So, how do we get out of here without breaking down the door?" I asked with an annoyed look. This was just _stupid_.

Al sighed. "I knew you'd jump to conclusions." He stood up and walked over to a string hanging from the ceiling. Didn't notice that before. "Now that you know what happened, ready to leave?" He asked, putting his hang on the string.

"Of course!" I said, standing up. What was that string going to do, anyway? Open the door or something? Al pulled on it.

_DINGalingalingalin…_

….. Oh. Duh. They live upstairs. Of course they'd have things like that for their patients.

Immediately I heard voices from above. I heard the boy's voice arguing about something. Lucielle's voice was too quiet to really hear though. Then Luke's voice came again, quieter this time. I heard some distant footsteps, and a door slam. Al turned to the door of the room, and I followed suit. After a few moments…

_Click_. Lucielle opened the door.

"How are you two doing?" she asked, still standing in the doorway as if ready to bolt at a moment's notice. So much for trusting us. "I'm guessing you heard me & my brother arguing upstairs, right?"

"A little bit." I answered. "So, can we leave? This room is kind of bugging me."

"HEY!!" I turned to look behind Lucielle to see Luke walking up behind her with an annoyed look. "She let you and your brother stay here for the night & treated your head for free, and you repay her like that!?" Lucielle tried to calm her brother down while I looked to Al for an explanation. "If any injury a patient sustains is caused by herself or her brother, treatment's free."

"Oh." I turned to Lucielle again. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything, but I just happen to not like hospitals." She grinned. "Oh, it's no problem at all! However…" Huh? However what? I just now noticed how creepy that particular grin was… Luke popped in from behind her. "There's a certain matter of your bill…" he said, the same creepy grin as his sister. "Now, hang on a minute!" I started. "I thought you said it was free!" Al didn't say anything. Apparently he was also at loss for words…

"Oh, yeah. The food you ate, Brother." He said. I looked over at the tray with plates picked clean & the smallest apple core you'd ever seen, excluding a certain liquid that shall not be mentioned by name. Immediately I felt a bit nervous. Did I have any money…?

"It'll be about…. Oh, I dunno… perhaps about 7,000 sens?" (A/N: let's pretend 5,000 sens is like 50 dollars or something, shall we?) "5,000!? That's crazy!! For two small meals and a bed?! That's insane! Now, 2,000 sens I could understand, but 7,000!!" _That's hoping I even have 2,000 sens…_I thought, glancing at my suitcase again.

"Hey! Times are rough." Luke said, bringing himself to attention again. "Did Lucielle tell you our cover story?" Al & I both said that we hadn't, really. "Well, it's basically like this: everyone in town is under the impression that we are simply brother & sister, not twins, and that I'm about a year younger than Lucielle. They think our parents are doctors helping refugees of the war and anybody else they meet on their travels, and that they send us money every month. That way the people of this town don't worry about us. If they did, there could be an investigation by the military. And that wouldn't be good.

"When we first escaped here about two years ago, we had been traveling and trying to get away from the East area as much as possible. We ended up in the western town of Kloviss. This building here is on the edge of town as you noticed, and before we got here this place was a deserted dump. Which is what other people thought too. But when we got here, we did a bit of digging & found out that nobody actually owns it. So we said that our family had owned it for quite some time, and that we were traveling with our parents a lot. But now they told us to settle down & get on with our studies & stuff—"

"Which we do, by the way. We home-school ourselves." Lucielle piped in. "Yeah, what she said." Luke said, unfazed by her interruption. "Anyway, that's about it, really. Any questions?"

"Hey, what did you do when the money ran out, anyway? And before you started the business?" I asked. Al seemed like he was wondering too, but didn't ask out of politeness. Lucielle looked a little sheepish, and Al shot an annoyed glance at me. What can I say, though? I was curious!

"Weelllll…. Promise you won't mention this ever at ALL??" Lucielle asked. Both Al & I said we wouldn't. "Well, we kind of stole some crops from the storerooms… Luke is a very good thief, I must say." He nodded in agreement with a boasting smile before Lucielle continued. "We took only a few things, really! They didn't notice since we only took things that they had a lot of." Luke rolled his eyes a bit. "Honestly, Lucielle. It's fine. No-one died or anything because of our stealing, you know." Lucielle didn't look too assured.

"Yeah, but we still steal!" Lucielle said to Luke. I think she wasn't paying attention to us anymore…. "You still steal medicines from those people in the city!" Luke mentioned something about how they were rich bastards and wouldn't miss one or two name-brand medicines a week. They started arguing a little on the morals of stealing for a bit, but then popped back into reality.

"Hey! Your bill! Almost forgot!" They both said at once. "Yeesh! Fine! I'm going, I'm going!" I got up from the chair I had been leaning on as our conversation had migrated closer to the 'lobby' and went back to my suitcase, afraid of what I might find.

"Hey, guys? There wouldn't happen to be a bank in this town, would there?" They both said there wasn't on this side of the lake, and that the ferry broke down on the other side.

Yeah. I'm officially screwed now.

Woooooo! That was a really long chapter!! Clapity chap clap!! …… ohkay, now I'm starting to sound like that scary bi-polar girl on lucky star…. Which I've been obsessed with lately (watching the English dubs on youtube) so I haven't updated… sorriez!!

However! This is a long chappie, no? yaaayyy!! :DDDDD

**Ed**: no money?? That's like the time we went to wisteria… And I'm pretty sure you own that book stink eye

**Al**: wisteria? remembers and blushes a bit (well, as much as armor can blush lol) oh yeah, eh heh heh….

**Lucielle**: why's he blushing…?

**Me:** I'll let you read the book. It's cyuuuuute!! Tis a shame they didn't turn it into a TV show… oh, hey!! When they make the new manga-based anime, maybe they'll include that!! :DDDD THAT'D BE SO COOOOLLLL!!

**Luke**: you're ranting about pointless crap again.

**Me**: fine fine… (I'll have to websearch for when they're gonna air it…..)

**Me**: anywhooz! Y'know, I bet I'll post this and then I'll re-read the whole thing & be all 'hooo boy. Forgot about that….' Or 'wait, that's not right…'

**Ed & Al**: we hardly get to say anything in these author comments…..

So…. Okay, watch this. I'll post it & be all 'omg I forgot something!!' …. No wait, I already said that, didn't i?

GAH!!

LP


	5. Chapter five: is random

--

I TOOK FOREVER TO POST I AM SO SORRIES!! Don't blame me! I had to get Seravina's character design from my buddy!

**Ed:** Yeah, you got that, and then you took forever to write it.

**Al:** Brother…

**Luke:** annoyed

**Lucielle**: Uhm, yeah. ArdenAnam does not, in any way shape or form, own FMA. However, she owns me, Luke, and the town of Kloviss. Also, her bestest best buddy, Thorn, owns Seravina.

--

"No money? Surely I didn't hear you right." I heard Luke say behind me. There was an edge to his voice. This isn't going to turn out good… although I know what he means.

"Are you absolutely sure?" I asked, stepping in front of my brother. "We really need the money… We only have about 20,000 sens to our name right now! And we're running out of food a bit…" I mentioned, letting them know of the situation. Al seemed to shrink down a bit… I figured he might, and I felt bad about making him feel bad. It's like kicking a puppy…. Wait, what?

"Yes, I'm sure." Ed said indignantly. "Just let me go to a bank or something. I'll pay you." Luke shook his head. "Didn't you just hear us? There's no bank on this side of the lake! The only bank is in the city, a ferry ride away. And you can't go, because the ferry had problems on the other side. It could be at least two days before it's fixed!" He said angrily.

Then I got an idea.

"Heeeyyy…. I know how they can pay us off until the boat is fixed!" I said, calling attention to myself. The two brothers looked at me skeptically. Well, Ed did at least. "Instead of paying interest or anything, you two can help us out around the clinic! Today's Saturday, right? Things are always insanely busy! We could always use the help!"

Luke didn't look too happy at the no-interest thingy, but brightened at the idea of extra help. Ed & Al whispered to eachother a bit. Luke didn't like that.

"Sure!" Al said at last. "We have some business in town, anyway." Ed finished. Luke gave him a look, which in turn earned him a look from me. "The Stone, remember? You know about everything, I take it? We're looking for someone who can point us in the right direction. A Miss… Stride, I think?"

"Stride!? What the hell do you want with her!?" Luke growled. Oh, ok. Now I know who we're talking about. "Do you mean Seravina Stride?" I asked. Ed paused a minute, then nodded. "I know her!" both Luke & I said at the same time, although Luke said it with a tad less enthusiasm.

"She's my best friend!"

"I hate her."

Ed & Al exchanged looks. "Why don't you ask us?" I mentioned. Ed shrugged. "Yeah, we're looking for someone who can tell us a bit about medical alchemy. There's supposed to be a doctor in this town. Maybe in the city. We don't kno… wait." He glanced at Luke & I. "You wouldn't happen to know him or her, would you?" "Yup." I replied. "Can you tell us who?" Al asked, looking as eager as armor can look. I shot my hand in the air. "Then you're looking for me."

Ed and Al exchanged looks again. Then, next thing I know, they're right in my face. Luke didn't like that at all, and gave a surprised growl. "ARE YOU SERIOUS??" ….. huh what? Oh, yeah… I remember.. "Uhm, actually, I'm not at all that good, you see… I didn't learn much…" "Then who did you learn from?" Ed asked. I looked to the ground. Luke did also. Ed & Al backed off. I brightened up to avoid a awkward silence.

"There were these brothers I knew of, before the war. One of them, I called him Mr. Glasses Man, had a bunch of books that taught a different kind of alchemy. His brother didn't like it, but I didn't really pay attention to him much. They fought a lot about that, though… Nyeh. Anyway, Mr. Glasses Man and his friends were translating these foreign books, and they taught this alchemy that was used for medical purposes. He let me read them and study them, and although I'm not really all that great, I can stop bleeding over small areas and such. I can't regrow arms & legs or anything, just letting you know. And I don't know where they went. We were bombed, as you know, and when we ran this state alchemist….." I trailed off. Luke gave me a sympathetic look, and glared daggers at Ed & Al, who looked uncomfortable.

"I don't remember what happened next. Next thing we knew we were in that—" I stopped, catching myself. "The camp." The two brothers must have thought I was on the verge of crying or something. Wait, that's bad! "But I'm fine, really!" I said, twisting my face into a cheerful smile.

Which is when Seravina ran in.

"Lucielle! Yo! What's up this fine morning?" She called, running straight up to my and looming over my head. Yeah, she's tall. "What do you want?" I asked, in a dead pan voice. She didn't answer me, however, and looked straight past Luke and to Ed. And stared. Until Ed must have been really uncomfortable…

"HOLY CRAP!! IT'S YOU!!" she screamed, making me shriek a little and Luke jump. Ed pulled a complete WTF.

"Uhm… do I know you?" He asked nervously. "Of course I know you! Everybody knows you! You're the—" but she stopped and glanced at me. Huh?

"Uhm, you're really hot, I mean!" She said, faking it. Ed blushed. A lot. Al looked a little downhearted. I'm guessing cuz he didn't get a compliment. Luke stared at Sera. Well, more like he dead-panned at Sera. And he has a good reason. She's never said anything like that, even to cover something up.

Seravina immediately blushed. A lot. The she turned tail for the door. "I'll see ya later Lucy!! You too, Dog Breath!" The dog breath comment was directed to Luke. He immediately followed her out the door. "Luke! Don't—" but it was too late. He was out of the door, screaming at Seravina to slow down so he could clobber her.

Silencesilencesilencesilencesilencesilencesilencesilencesilencesilencesilencesilencesilence……

"Huh?" Al asked, breaking the silence. I shrugged. "This happens almost every morning, trust me. Especially on Saturday. We're gonna have to treat Luke later on I guess. Unless he actually wins for once. Which I doubt will happen."

I got up from the chair I had been leaning on and clapped my hands together. "Well! Let's get started on today, shall we?" They seemed to have momentarily forgotten what I was talking about. "You two are going to help me with the clinic. Saturday is a very busy day. There's always so—" and then the door opened, and in came our first patient of the day.

It was the girl from a few blocks down, Beth. She was almost like a little sister to me. Her shoulderlength brown hair was tied back in a pony tail (no doubt she'd ask me to braid it later) and her bangs were a mess. Like always. Yeesh, why doesn't she run a comb through it? … Oh, yeah. That's my job.

"Beth! Hi, my little buddy!" I said, walking over to her and rubbing her head. God, she's only 11 and she's a little taller than me… not that it bothers me, though. Beth didn't have a look of panic in her eyes, but she seemed to come here for a reason. "I need my medicine." She said, looking a little annoyed. I get it now. She ran out of medicine, or can't find it. I always keep a back up.

"Sure thing! Go upstairs and grab a glass of milk or something, would you?" I asked, but then Al said, "Wait, Big Brother didn't drink his milk. That shouldn't go to waste, right?" I stopped Beth and turned to Al. "He didn't!?" I glared at Ed. "Seriously! We don't have much money! Don't go wasting food!" Ed grumbled something under his breath. I'm guessing he doesn't like milk. God, this kid is weird. I glanced at Al. "So far, you're my favorite." I said, before going into the pharmacy room. She went into the open room and got the milk, before following me. I shut the door and proceeded to retrieve her medicine.

"That guy in the coat is cute. Who's the armor guy?" she asked. "Ed's the coat guy. Al's the armor guy. Al is Ed's younger brother." Beth's eyes grew wide. "Are you serious!? But Ed's so much shorter than Al!!"

Yeah. Then all hell broke loose.

"WHOAREYOUCALLINGTOOSHORTTO—" but the rest was drowned out in a muffled scream. I think Al stopped Ed from barging into the door and from screaming. The yelling died down. Beth turned her wide eyes on me. "Yeah, Al's my favorite so far." I said again, giving her the medicine. She swallowed the pills. "Do you liiikkkeeeee him?" she asked me. I gave her a look. "Which one exactly?" she shrugged. "Mr. Cape. Why'd I think you'd like someone who's way older than you?" "Alphonse is 13." I mentioned, and that shut her up. Uh, yeah.

So begins this fine, fine day.

Beth doesn't belong to me either. I just used my almost-little-sister's middle name. so Beth is her parallel, I guess. Lolz.

SO! REVIEW AND MAKE ME HAPPY!! I WILL POST SOONER!! :DDD …. Well, actually, I've got a bit of writer's block. But it should go away soon ;;;

Is this chapter short? --;;;

LP


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